I thought you might like to
have some photos and information on the rather unknown, but quality gunmaking
company of Forehand & Wadsworth. Each of these men, Forehand and Wadsworth,
married daughters of Ethan Allen and in 1865 they joined the firm which was
renamed Ethan Allen & Co. (previously Allen & Wheelock). In 1871 the firm became
Forehand & Wadsworth on the death of Ethan Allen. The later guns manufactured by
the Forehand Arms Co. (1890-1898) were not as important as the earlier weapons
designed and made in the 1870s. A few Forehand & Wadsworth Bulldog and
"Saturday-Night Specials" can still be found on the market today. What are
especially difficult to find, and of great quality, are the F&W Old Army and New
Army Single Action Revolvers made from the mid 1870s into the 1880s.

I am sending here photos of
a Forehand & Wadsworth Old Model Army 44 Russian Single Action Revolver that is
with my brother Dave in Oregon. Less than a thousand of these were made and they
were known as rugged frontier guns. Some have been found that have a bear
stamped on the frame and are thought to have been used by the California
militia. The photos that I am sending are of a F&W that has Argentine Army
stamps on the frame. This is the only revolver with these stamps of which we are
aware. We do know that Argentine Army (EjÚrcito Argentino) officers often
ordered their own side-arms, and some of these were purchased from US companies.

I am assuming that the
number 1943 was stamped to register this as an Argentine Army revolver by
adding the number 1 to the serial number of 943 that was already on the
revolver. No Forehand & Wadsworth Old Model Army revolvers are known with serial
numbers in the thousands, let alone close to 2000.

Richard

Forehand &
Wadsworth

Many thanks to "IVES DEVOS" for the
pictures

This is another, quite rare
specimen of Forehand&Wadsworth. It is the "Double Action Model n░ 32". It is a
double-action revolver, chambered for the .32 rimfire cartridge. The blued
variant with birdshead grips is quite uncommon. It is a six-shooter.

A compact and sturdy weapon,
very well designed and made, ideal for personal defense or police purposes.

Although a double-action,
the hammer has a halfcock notch, that acts as a safety notch and also frees the
cylinder for loading. The gun has no loading gate; instead, it has a simple
opening cut into the right part of the rear shield. The location of the opening
in the shield prevents the cartridges to fall out of the chambers when the gun
is used.

Period of manufacture: 1870-80.

Marcel

A French firm manufactures the
necessary to reload this type of ammunition.

I am sending here a few
photos of another Forehand & Wadsworth Old Army in 44 Russian.

This one is in fine shape
other than missing a few screws for the side plate.

Since sending the
information on the other Forehand last year we have found out some very
interesting information on these rare revolvers - one must always keep an open
mind because new information has a way of keeping one both humble and objective.

First, when we sent the
other photos they were of the first Forehand & Wadsworth Old Army we had seen
with Argentine Army markings (Ejercito Argentino and the serial number repeated
on the side plate with an extra 1 before the number). We thought that this was
an exceptionally rare Forehand and Wadsworth (they are all unusual and rare, of
course). Now we have found out that in reality a majority of the Forehand &
Wadsworth Old Army revolvers were sold to the Argentine military. Forehand and
Wadsworth could not interest the US Military in their products so they sent most
of the production of this piece to So. America.

It was precisely because of
their failure to interest the US Military in any contracts for this gun that it
became a rare piece, because less than a thousand were eventually manufactured
by the company.

On this particular revolver
the Argentine Military marks are not there - but whoever in Buenos Aires was
providing these to the Military was actually getting ready to complete a sale,
because on the side plate there is engraved the number 1, precisely in the same
spot where it appears ahead of the serial number on other F&W revolvers that
were in Argentine military service. It would make an interesting story to know
just why this particular revolver never did end up as an official military
side-arm. The pristine bore on this gun indicates that it did not do much
service for any country's army, or for anyone else for that matter. Perhaps the
Argentine Military needed the two screws that are missing on the side plate
rather than the whole gun.

The other matter that has
come to our attention through a collector of these guns is the story behind the
bear that is found stamped on a few of the Forehand & Wadsworth Old Army
revolvers. The bear has nothing to do with the California Militia as has been
surmised by some, rather it was a visual mark placed there by the manufacturers
to indicate that it was chambered for the 44 "Russian" cartridges, the bear
being the symbol of Russia. I have not yet seen one of these with the bear
stamp, evidently none came to So. America.